The present disclosure relates to the field of cognitive devices, and specifically to the use of cognitive devices that emulate human speech. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to emulating human speech of a particular dialect used by a specific cohort.
Artificial systems that produce speech and text for human communication are based on expert systems being optimized to maximize domain-based functionality, such as customer satisfaction, based on immediate, conscious customer feedback. These systems are not designed to display the slightly dysfunctional or idiosyncratic features present in all human speech. That is, human beings typically speak in non-uniform ways, due to regional dialects, training, occupation, etc. That is, a doctor from New England is likely to have a speech pattern that is different from that of a lawyer from California, due to their different backgrounds, daily lexicons, etc.
When an artificial system generates speech, either in the form of written text or as audible speech, the generated speech will typically be lacking speech nuances that are inherent in true human speech, thus leading to an “uncanny valley” of difference, which refers to an artificial system being just different enough from a real person to be unsettling, even if the observer does not know why.